Prince William donned scrubs and watched on as a new state-of-the-art robotic surgery was carried out on a cancer patient at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, west London, yesterday (10.01.18).

Prince William joked he could tell surgeons must have played on PlayStations because they handled a new robot machine so well during an operation.

Prince William

The 35-year-old royal donned scrubs for a visit to the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, west London, yesterday (10.01.18), where he compared the new state-of-the-art technology to the popular console.

Speaking to cancer patient Joe Omar, he said: "You can see all the doctors have done PlayStation. They let me watch but not to have a go."

William watched on as patient Anne White had a tumour cut away from her tongue by surgeons using the new minimally invasive Da Vinci robot machine, which uses heat rather than a blade to perform surgery.

The operation took just two hours as opposed to the 12-hour treatment which would've been required beforehand.

The prince was allowed to make virtual incisions on screen and move the markers for the robot's arms.

He said: "It's fascinating watching the robot work - it's just so precise. I'm really impressed.

"You're literally going right into the tumour so you see exactly with precision where the tumour is - it's incredible - I was really, really impressed with it."

William also visited the Burdett Coutts ward, where he met a patient who is recovering from robotic surgery, and another who is a former member of Royal Marsden staff.

The Duke of Cambridge's late mother Princess Diana - who passed away in 1997 aged just 36 - attended her first solo royal engagement at The Royal Marsden Hospital, where she watched surgery being performed in 1982.